Chapter 248: Guilliman Curses
Arthur had left in a hurry to get to work.
"Damn Ultramarines," a group of Dark Angels grumbled.
Azrael carefully observed the expressions of everyone around him. The first lesson of the Round Table: show your face at public events. From their expressions, they really did despise Romulus.
Azrael sometimes found it strange. Were this Primarch and the Ultramarines really so hated? He hadn't met many veterans from the 30k era, but over eighty percent of them had nothing good to say about the Ultramarines. And if it weren't for the Prince, the other twenty percent would have the Dreadwing and the Deathwing already lying in ambush for Romulus.
But what was puzzling was that, even in this situation, Romulus was the regent with the highest prestige in the Dawnlight Sector, and it was a genuinely positive prestige. Considering his own lack of knowledge in this area, Azrael felt he should put the Legion's new tradition into practice. He whispered to Cypher, seeking his opinion.
"I am curious," he began, "why do our seniors hold such an attitude towards Lord Romulus? Did they do something particularly terrible?"
"Terrible? Where to even begin!"
At this question, before Cypher could even respond, the surrounding Dark Angels immediately became animated and began to list them off for the junior.
"During the Great Crusade, all the Primarchs were working to liberate humanity. Only the Ultramarines were building their own independent kingdom, siphoning Imperial resources to build their Ultramar."
"During the Great Heresy, Guilliman instigated Sanguinius to declare himself Emperor of Imperium Secundus, with himself as Lord Regent, holding all the power, while he just watched Terra and preserved his own strength."
"After the Great Heresy, Guilliman even presided over the breaking of the Legions, which greatly delayed the recovery of the several Legions that had been severely damaged in the Siege of Terra. At the same time, he expanded his influence to almost the entire galaxy. Now, 70% of all Chapters in the galaxy are Ultramarines."
"And now, Romulus has done everything Guilliman did all over again, and his interference in military and political affairs is even more extreme than Guilliman's in the past!"
"..."
"Then why are so many people in the Dawnlight Sector praising how good Lord Romulus is? Has he done anything good?" Azrael asked again. Noticing the crowd around them, Cypher replied without thinking.
"Think of Guilliman. The best thing he ever did was to end up lying in stasis on Macragge."
The surrounding Dark Angels nodded in deep agreement.
Azrael was stunned for a moment, then he understood the dark joke that had just come out of Cypher's mouth. He couldn't help but smile. He looked at the expressions of the people around him. The lower-ranking members, usually the ones on the front lines, their disgust was genuine. But the higher-ranking ones, like Cypher, Gareth, and Zahariel, who were in charge of research and Legion coordination, were much more rational. It was more like they were putting on an attitude for others to see.
I see.
As someone born in the 40k era, Azrael knew very little about that time. But after a concentrated study session in the Round Table, he had a concrete understanding. The vast majority of Astartes, including the members of the Dark Angels, were very consistent. Although they were supermen on a biological level, the depth of their thinking was not necessarily high. Most of the time, they were focused on how to better fulfill their duties in war.
Although Azrael was a barbarian from a feral world, he had been a thinker since birth.
Was Guilliman's breaking of the Legions the right thing to do? In Azrael's opinion, it was. At that time, the great enemies of the galaxy had been defeated. The Imperium of Man covered the entire galaxy. And after a major event like the Great Heresy, it was inevitable that the power of the Astartes would be curtailed. What's more, at that time, Guilliman's Legion was the most intact. If he had really wanted to seize power, he could have marched on Terra with his two hundred and fifty thousand intact Ultramarines. Who could have stopped him?
But Guilliman's choice was to voluntarily break up his Legion's power and marginalize the vast majority of the Astartes. From then on, although the Black Templars had twice brought their blades to Terra, a loss on the scale of the Great Heresy had never happened again. Anyone with even a little political acumen could see that there was nothing wrong with Guilliman's actions.
As for the average political level of the Astartes... it could only be described as a disaster. They only saw their own interests being harmed. Imagine you are a commander from the era of the great legions. One day, you receive a mandatory order. You must break up your forces into special operations units. From now on, you will have no mortal auxiliaries, no fleet, and you can only use the weapons specified in the regulations. Who would be happy about that?
And the one who had issued this policy was Guilliman, who had been nowhere to be seen during the Siege of Terra. The Dark Angels had sent tens of thousands to support Terra. To support the landing, they had even sacrificed the Invincible Reason. But the Ultramarines, aside from the two or three guys at their outpost, were nowhere to be seen.
And what about their own Primarch? Gone, wounded, broken... It was a clear proof that the one who gets the biggest piece of the cake is not the one who contributes the most in the war, but the one who preserves the most strength after the war.
And the Astartes of that time could not be integrated into the main body of humanity. The Astartes commanders who could see clearly could not abandon their battle-brothers to suck up to the High Lords. It had to be said that the positive significance was not small. If not for Guilliman's series of rebalancing strategies for the Imperium's power and military strength, it was hard to say if the Imperium would have survived to this day.
But the Astartes of the Legion era did not enjoy the positive significance brought by Guilliman's measures. In their eyes, Guilliman was the ambitious bastard who had stolen the fruits of victory, suppressed his brother legions, and expanded his own power to the entire galaxy. So criticizing Guilliman, criticizing the Ultramarines, had become a political correctness. And after criticizing for so long, they had really come to hate them. There were just too many things to complain about.
Azrael was lost in thought. He keenly sensed that even the Dark Angels of the 30k era were not happy to be involved in political work.
To be honest, Azrael was a little nervous about the Prince's opinion of their contemporary Dark Angels Chapter. He hoped it was pride, but after having so many secrets shared with him, he felt very insecure. And the large number of Legion-era members within the Dark Angels who had been listed by the Inner Circle as Fallen was undoubtedly proof of this. This was Arthur's attitude. The Prince preferred the Dark Angels Legion to the contemporary Dark Angels!
Then what about the Dark Angels Chapter? What about everything the Dark Angels Chapter had done for the past ten thousand years? What about the Legion members who had died at their hands, and the comrades and allies who had died at their hands for the sake of keeping a secret?
When he had first realized this, aside from the excitement of having a being who could once again lead the entire Dark Angels, Azrael was also grateful that he had not yet been stained with sin. And after this brief excitement, came panic. What if the Prince, because of the actions of the Inner Circle, came to despise them as well? The Prince was a being who dared to write his evaluation of the Lion in a military history textbook without any reservation.
How could they regain, or even raise, their status in the Prince's eyes? These Dark Angels were ten-thousand-year-old veterans. They were better, stronger. Azrael never thought that he, who had almost been killed by Belial in a duel, could compare with these veterans in terms of professionalism. And as for research, the Chapter's Techmarines still had to be trained on Mars.
But now, he seemed to have sensed his own advantage. Azrael had some confidence in his management skills.
"I think the Dark Angels also need to be involved in political coordination," Azrael said to Cypher in a secret meeting room, after a long period of contemplation. He would get into management. He would overtake them on the curve!
"Oh?" Cypher couldn't help but look surprised, his eyebrows raising. "We do have similar organizations, but not many Dark Angels are directly involved at the moment. It's more of a supervisory role. You should think carefully." The Firewing and the Ravenwing were just using the Alpha Legion for now, but as the scale of their operations expanded, they could only maintain the Legion's autonomous operation.
Arthur, as the Warmaster, in addition to being able to mobilize the military resources of the Dawnlight Sector, did indeed have military districts assigned to the Dark Angels for independent governance. Of the four Wings, the Wardens of Steel was the only army that had a 'nation'.
"I am very clear," Azrael said, his voice without a hint of hesitation.
When he had learned the truth, he had seen Belial sitting dejectedly in his chair, sobbing. He would never forget that scene. At that moment, he had thought, if he had the chance to become a member of the Round Table, he would definitely change the current situation of the Dark Angels Chapter and show the Prince that the contemporary Dark Angels were not so bad.
Now, an opportunity was right in front of Azrael. He had to consider if this would be the only chance in his life. A chance to use his unique advantage to lead the contemporary Dark Angels back into the Prince's eyes.
"Lord Arthur should have no objection," Cypher said, but then cautioned, "But, Azrael, be careful. The Prince and Romulus are true partners, but the Legions are true competitors. Don't let me hear that you can't even handle this work."
"Understood," Azrael said, giving his superior a hand signal, and then turned and left the room.
Arthur was waiting for him outside the door.
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